


Murdoc's Gorilla Circus

by Godsavethequeenbee



Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Abuse, Circus, Whipping, kind of, mentions of abuse, murdoc is an ass, murdoc redemption arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 02:25:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11682087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Godsavethequeenbee/pseuds/Godsavethequeenbee
Summary: The greatest show on earth, Even greater then that. The best show on earth! That's what Murdoc's show was, that's what it was always going to be, that is until a mysterious shadow appears  and begins to mess with the show behind the scenes, Murdoc has to  swallow his pride and work together with his performers in order to keep the show from failing .





	1. The greatest show on earth

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a tumblr post by saturnzlover

“And now ladies and Gentlemen!! Prepare for the greatest show on earth! Fuck those Ringling brother hacks, you folks didn’t come here to see pansy things like Dancing ponies and dressed up elephants, not a chance!!”   
“ CAW CAW!” The crow on his shoulder punctuated his sentence  
The gothic dressed ringleader paused for a moment so the crowd of teenagers and rebellious adults could scream at the the top of their lungs. “ For you kind folks are here to see what’s real, not what’s made to look real! And the one and only Murdoc niccals circus is here to deliver!”   
“ CAW CAW CAW!!!” the birds crows sounded like a sadistic child's laugh . 

The show always started the same, with Murdoc giving the same speech while tossing around his old style whip with that happy bird on his shoulder, but he wasn’t lying, the only reason this circus existed was because he was tired of how fake the shows had become. He wanted to give the world a new show something real. That’s why instead of ponies and elephants the shows main attraction was a group of 20+ trained gorillas, but it wasn’t all about the animals though it was also about the people.

People like the firebreather known as the Japanese wonder, she would breath fire and dance in the sky on the trapeze at the same time. Murdoc often did a bit where she would light his stovepipe hat on fire, the first time that happened it was an accident, but it has since become a very popular act between the two.

There was also the strong man known as the Phantom lifter, He was quite the popular character, His act was not just about him lifting heavy things, it was more about the fact that he was possessed by the spirit of his dead friend Del, so not only was the phantom lifter lifting weights twice his size, but there was also a ghost standing right next to him doing the same thing, and that was a real crowd pleaser. Del could also perform on his own as well, he often does a bit in the beginning of the show where he stands behind Murdoc and mocks everything he does. 

Then their was there was Katsu the lion, The Japanese wonder would often open their act by riding on the giant animals back while they jumped onto the stage by falling through 3 flaming hoops and into a large pool from the highrise. The lion was expertly trained and could do about 200 tricks and the audience loved every single one of them. However Katsus main act was being whipped into submission by Murdoc who doubles as a lion tamer. 

Then their was the amazing act known as the circus contraption, or The cyborg,a robot made to look like the Japanese wonder after she took a brief hiatus back in 1925. This robotic contraption was made by none other than the master ringleader Murdoc. He would begin the act by unbuttoning the steam powered girls blouse and pulling away her chest piece revealing the cogs and spinning gears that made up her insides, that always got the crowd riled up. She would then continue to swallow an assortment of swords, however with her chestpiece still open, the audience can see as the weapons she swallows get crushed by her guttyworks. Then she will join the Japanese wonder on the trapeze for a double acrobatic act. 

Of course then their was the circus’s title act, the gorillas, They would storm the stage and muck about in their act which was most similar to the act of clowns as they dressed in funny dress and did many acts to get the audience to chuckle, they always did of course Murdoc trained them well. However despite the fact they were trained well the way they were trained was nothing short of violent. Murdoc's whip had a purpose. He would often demonstrate live on stage whenever he gave his whip a good crack all of the gorillas snap to attention. 

Then finally the last main attraction was the contortionist Known as 2 dents, or 2D, he could bend his body in any way he wished, he could do so much more then just touch his feet to the back of his head, he could fold his body in order to fit inside many small enclosed places, such as a water jug, or a shipping crate,Murdoc would open his act by showing off his eyes, which to the naked eye would appear to be missing, and then the act would continue as Murdoc shouted commands and 2D did almost over 100 different body positions, some were so wild and crazy that members of the audience would have to turn away. 

That’s just how the show went,and that’s what made it a smash hit. The show had only been around for a couple of years, but in every town they went to the circus sold out in minutes. Truly this was the show that was shocking the nation. 

Murdoc set down the newspaper after he finished reading the article about the circus, he reached over to the left of his desk to grab the bottle of rum that sat there. Looking outside told him that it was time to awaken everyone for practice. It was only 5 weeks until their big show in London and everyone was on edge. They only had a few shows in smaller towns to do to pass the time. He motioned to his pet raven to come, and the bird obeyed and flew onto his master's shoulder. 

“ thats a good boy cortez” He said giving the bird a nice rub on the head. 

Murdoc walked out of his large trailer and into the large trailer park that held all of the circus’s attractions. The trailers were all arranged in a circle by largest to smallest. The larger your trailer was, the more important your job was, that's why Murdoc’s trailer was by far the largest. He walked to the next trailer down from his and gave a sharp knock on the door. After a few moments the door swung open, and in the doorway stood the famous fire breather The Japanese wonder. 

“ morning Noodle!” Murdoc said with a smile “ How’s Cyborg did’ya sleep well?” 

“ She’s doing fine, all of her cogs and gears are working just fine, and I slept great!” She replied with a smile. “ what's for breakfast.” 

“ Crapes” Murdoc replied as Noodle hopped out of her trailer. Cortez gave a caw of approval. 

“ I thought we left France 3 months ago.” she laughed and began making her way to the meal tent. 

“ Aren't we forgetting someone?” Murdoc said in a teasing manner. And noodle groaned in response. 

“ C’mon muds she doesn’t even need to eat.” 

“ That doesn’t mean she's not a valued member of this show, now go give her a good wind.”

Noodle calmly went back into her Trailer. Murdoc admired her humble home which was decorated by Japanese symbols painted onto the wood of the trailer. She had painted them herself and it made the little mobile house look more…... homey. A few moments later Noodle emerged with a small robot in tow. The cyborg lifted their arm and gave a squeaky wave, as steam escaped from a small hole in her head. Murdoc smiled at the pair and made his way down to the next trailer and he gave the door a rough tap. A few moments later The phantom lifter slammed open the door and gave Murdoc a slightly angry look. 

“ Morning muds.” He replied in a deep voice. 

“ good morning Russel.” Murdoc said plainly “ hows Del?”

“ Hes fine” Russel repiled. Russ had never been one for conversation so Murdoc left it at that. 

“ Later fatass..” Murdoc mumbled as he moved on the the next trailer. This continued on for about 15 minutes, Murdoc walking trailer to trailer walking up various members of the circus and sending them off to breakfast until he came to the smallest trailer. It had graffiti painted all over it and wasn’t even a sixth of the size of Murdocs trailer. Not to mention it was the last trailer before the animal cages so it stunk like gorilla shit. Murdoc pounded on the door and yelled. 

‘ OI FACEACE GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED.” There were loud scuffling noises and the sounds of someone tripping before the door eventually swung open,and the lanky form of 2D appeared in the doorway. 

“ morning muds.” He said with a yawn, scratching at some of the scars on his arms. 

“ Morning idiot.” Murdoc slapped 2Ds hand away from his arm “ And don’t fucking scratch yourself, you’ll only make it worse.”   
“ sorry” He mumbled in response. “ So…. uh muds whats for breakfast?” 

“ Crapes.” Murdoc replied with venom in his voice. 

“ so can...I go and eat with the others?” 2D responded once when Murdoc blocked his path to the meal tent. Murdoc gave him a quick shove back to his trailer. 

“ Have you forgotten what happened at the last show?” 

“N...no sir.” 2D replied in a nervous tone. 

“ Then I’ll bring you the leftovers and you can eat with the damn lion” Murdoc said shoving the thin man into his trailer and slamming the door in his face, he then proceeded to lock the contortionists door from the outside. 

“ I’ll be back in an hour or so.” Murdoc said with a laugh and cortez cawed along with him. 

2D leaned against the back of his door, he wasn’t really hungry anyways he just wanted to see his friend, and he could tell by the way murdoc treated him that this was going to be a long day.


	2. Whipping post

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warning: There is some Abuse and graphic descriptions of violence in this chapter
> 
> Also I wrote this while taking a train to my relatives house so I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes

2D was starving, he was almost certain that Murdoc said he would come and get him in an hour… and it honestly felt like it had been longer than that ! But the sadistic ringleader had locked him inside so he couldn’t get outside to ask . Which he felt was extremely unfair! Other then his trailer only the animal cages had doors that locked from the outside. It just made his social standing with the other carnies more obvious. 2D tried to pass the time by getting started on his morning stretches, just so that when he went out for practice Murdoc wouldn’t be that upset with him. He was already mad enough after what happened at the last show. The reason why he messed up that trick was because he didn’t train hard enough, that or he was just a bumbling idiot just waiting to mess up the entire show, at least that's Murdoc said.  
Soon even more time passed and 2D was running out of stretches to work on. Should he lay down for a nap? No. If Murdoc came for him and saw that he was “ sleeping on the job” He would have a fit and probably keep him out of breakfast for a few more days at least. Just when he was about to dose off while leaning on one of the walls in his tiny trailer, there was a hard metallic knock at the door, and without a moment's hesitation 2D threw it open in a panic. 

“ MURDO-!” He was immediately thrown off by the sight of the circus contraption at his door. ( They sent the damn cyborg????) He thought to himself, but of course he sent the robot, and by the sounds of it practice was in full swing and he hadn’t even eaten yet. 

“ Hey idiot, follow cyborg to katsu’s cage. Once your done there bring Katsu to Noodles training area.” Cyborgs mouth flew open as the recorded message played. Steam escaped the bullet hole on the robots head and she jittered about as 2D thought over the message. 

“ He wasn’t lying about me eating with that lion then damnit.” He sighed out loud to cyborg, who he very much knew couldn’t respond to him.  
Cyborg lifted her arm in a squeaky manner and grabbed 2Ds arm rather forcefully, and began pulling him in the direction of the lions cage. ( This thing obviously wasn’t programmed with gentleness. ) he thought to himself as she dragged him out of his trailer, He didn’t want to be anywhere near that lion. 2D hated big animals, and Katsu was one of the largest lions on the world record, which is a point the circus often boasted about. Murdoc of course knew that 2D hated to be anywhere near the beast, so he made it his mission to force the two together as often as possible despite the fact that Noodle was much better at caring for the monster considering the pair did many acts together, but logic be damned if Murdoc niccals was involved. 2D followed the robot over to the large cage which held Katsu. A plate of leftovers had been set dangerously close to the opening of the cage. 

“ Do I have to eat sitting there?” He asked. Cyborg nodded stiffly. 2D groaned and sat down, literally shaking as he took a bite and looked back to see Katsus eyes burning a hole in the back of his head. 

After an extremely terrifying few bites 2D decied that he wasn't hungry anymore. He undid the lock for the lions cage and shakenly walked inside, lucky for him Murdoc went through the trouble of putting the large cat in his harness and lead. However this most likely wasn’t an act out of pure kindness it was more out of the belief that 2D could have never done it on his own. 2D quickly grabbed the end of the lead and began to guide the beast out of its cage, which it did calmly. 2D still shaking began to walk back to the trailer park, and all was calm until there was a large crashing noise which spooked the animal to start running ahead of him at full speed. 

“ AAAAAAH FUCK “ He screamed once he flew into the air as Katsu charged in front of him. Whenever the lion got spooked he rampaged around like a wild animal until he was whipped into submission by Murdoc or calmed down by Noodle. The pair reached the practice zone in record time and the performers ran in all opposite directions fearing the lions rage. A few meters away and about 100ft of the ground was Noodle who screamed out into the panicked crowed once she saw katsu. 

“ OH MY GOD MURDOC WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT LETTING ME BRING OUT KATSU!! STUART CAN’T HANDLE IT AND YOU KNOW IT!!” she screeched while climbing down the ring ladder.  
2D flinched at the use of his first name and the fact that someone who he looked up to a lot had basicly just called him incompitent. He continued to struggle with the lead that was wrapped around his hand and forcing him to be thrown about by as the lion rampaged and scared the other performers. Eventually Murdoc made it to the scene with whip in hand but Noodle stopped him in his tracks as she ran to calm her pet down.  
As soon as katsu laid eyes on Noodle he was instantly calmer, and 2D was able to escape quickly from the lead his hand was trapped in. 

“ shhhh shhhh it's okay baby, I don’t know what spooked you but it's all over now. “ Noodle hummed while petting his mane. Katsu calmed down quickly and allowed Noodle to lead him to his practice area.  
Meanwhile, Murdoc stalked up to 2D as he rubbed his wrist where the lead had trapped him. He had horrid rope burns by the looks of it. 

“ What the fuck was that about you mutter moron.” He hissed and pulled 2D off the ground roughly so He could look him in the eye. 

“ I….I I dunno I was leading him back and there was a crash and he got spooked and...and murdoc I can’t hold back a lion!!” 2D blubbered “ AND YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE EVEN SENT ME OUT TO GET HIM!! If you had just let me eat with everyone else then you could have sent noodle or someone who's used to dealing with that fucking beast!! “ 2D suddenly stopped talking once he saw the rage in Murdoc’s eyes. 

“ Listen here D, everyone at this circus has a job and sometimes that means we have to work together to get shit done, and If I can’t even ask you to do one thing to give poor Noodle a break, then your retarded ass doesn’t belong in MY SHOW!” He punctuated his sentence by cracking his whip at side, and Cortez cawed along.

“ I’m… I’m so sorry! I don’t know why I said all that, it's all my fault, it’s my fault, I’ll try better next time I promise!!!” 2D pleaded

“ If it wasn’t for your unhuman flexibility you would be completely useless you know.” Murdoc said dropping him onto the ground.” Now you come with me, since you disrupted everyone else's practice time you're going to come with me to my trailer, you need some one one one guidance training dullard.” 

2D knew what going to Murdoc's trailer meant. Nothing good.

“ Please Murdoc-” 

“ No excuses follow me, NOW.” 

 

Murdoc's trailer smelled like booze and cigars. At least from the outside, and it was covered head to toe with circus posters and newspapers, it made the giant trailer look like papermache. But 2D wouldn’t be going inside.  
Murdoc guided him to a small fenced back area behind his mobile home, he clicked open a gate and shoved 2D through the entrance. He hated his private practice sessions with murdoc, mostly because even though he was rough with him normally, when they were one on one he was straight up brutal. 

“ You better have your training gear on under those clothes.” Murdoc hissed as he walked through the gate and locked it. 

“ I do.” 2D replied removing his shirt, once he was out of his regular clothes all that was left was the pair of tights he wore on his legs for practice, they were perfect for contortionism. Pulling off his shirt revealed all of the scars that 2D bore on his upper body. They were all from Murdoc’s whip. He normally only used the weapon on the animals, however 2D was nothing less than an animal in Murdocs eyes, so he used it against him in many of the same ways. 

“ before we get started, I still need to punish you for the Katsu incident.” Murdoc chuckled 

“ Please murdoc isn’t practice with you punishment enough?” 2D replied solemnly. Murdoc's response was to take his whip and sharply crack it against 2Ds backside causing the lanky man to topple over.

“ I’LL TELL YOU WHAT'S PUNISHMENT ENOUGH YOU WASTE OF SPACE!”  
Murdoc brought down the whip again on 2DS side hard enough to break the skin, and blood began seeping out of the wound. “ Now do position 10 or I’ll hit you harder!” 2D moved quickly and bent his entire body backwards, bringing his head to rest on his backside. Murdoc quickly cracked him with the whip and told him to move faster. 2D brought his head all the way under his arse and pushed even further but he was stopped when Murdoc hit him on his back. 

“ GODDAMNIT YOUR SO FUCKKING SLOW!!” I’ve seen contortionists who can do that move in seconds!” Murdoc screeched. “ Alright try something else-” 

This routine went on for several hours, with Murdoc becoming more and more impatient with each move 2D tried. Eventually Murdoc lit a cigar and drank a few bottles of rum while 2D got to rest. He considered that his good deed for the day. Finally after 3 hours and when murdoc was too tired and drunk to care, he just started flogging 2D. He screamed and cried in vicious protest, but his screams feel on deaf ears, most members of the circus knew what would happen if they interrupted.  
2D tried to curl into himself but Murdoc didn’t seem to care, he didn’t even seem to care that he had vomited his small lunch out during his flogging. After 10 minutes of 2Ds screaming and pleading he stopped and went inside to light another cigar. 

2D laid a sobbing mess on the bloodied wet grass. Everything stung, he knew some of the new marks on his arms and torso would turn into Gross scars that he would have to hide from the public. If he was sent away from the circus because of Murdoc’s abuse he would have nowhere to go, the world had little use for a retarded freak like him. 30 minutes later Murdoc came out with an almost gone cigar in his hand. 

“ What the hell are you still doing out here? I thought I called that damn robot to come here and get you?” He snapped, like him being beaten to a bloody pulp was somehow his own fault. 

“ S….s..someone must have forgotten to wind her up” 2D said while coughing up a bit of blood, he didn’t tell murdoc that it was him who had forgotten. 

“ Hmmm is that right? I remember that being your responsibility.” Murdoc walked over to him and pressed his lighted cigar into his forehead burning a circle into his flesh. He then tossed the cigar to his side. “ That’s for making me go get her.” 

“ I’m sorry,” is all 2D could say as Murdoc scuffled away in anger.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if I'll continue this,but let me know if you would like me to!


End file.
